Status: 10/27/2022 10:06 am
Shortly before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Interior Minister Faeser criticized the award to the emirate. Faeser wants to find out more about the human rights situation on site in the coming week.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has clearly distanced herself from the World Cup in Qatar. A few weeks before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, the SPD politician said with a view to the host country ARD magazine monitor: “For us as the federal government, this is a totally difficult award.”
The federal government is convinced that the awarding of major sporting events should be linked to criteria, “namely compliance with human rights and principles of sustainability”. Of monitor When specifically asked about the decision to let Qatar host the soccer World Cup, Faeser said: “There are criteria that have to be adhered to and then it would be better if it weren’t awarded to such countries.”
Since the FIFA World Cup was awarded to the emirate, the world football association FIFA and the host country have been subjected to severe criticism: Thousands of dead workers on the construction sites of the World Cup venues, the continued lack of rights for homosexuals and women and the systematic exploitation of migrants are the focus of criticism .
Provide local information about the human rights situation
The interview took place in the run-up to a trip that the Interior Minister will be taking to Qatar next week together with the President of the German Football Association, Bernd Neuendorf. From 31.10. until 01.11. Faeser wants to find out more about the human rights situation on site before the soccer World Cup. She wanted to hear civil society’s opinion on whether progress had been made.
Faser also wants to make this trip dependent on whether she watches World Cup games: “To be honest, of course you are more interested in the World Cup when it takes place in the summer and in the evening.” As Federal Minister of the Interior, Faeser is also responsible for federal sports funding in the federal government.
DFB President Neuendorf recently spoke out against a boycott of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. Instead, he promoted an open discourse. “When the World Cup begins, the focus is on sport. But we have to be clear in our positioning when it comes to social and political conditions in Qatar,” Neuendorf said on Wednesday SWR. The 61-year-old is looking forward to the major sporting event, but at the same time sees a responsibility for the DFB and the German national team.
changed football
Among other things, Neuendorf advocates compensation payments for the families of workers who died on the World Cup construction sites. “I made my expectations clear to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. FIFA has a responsibility and it must live up to it,” he said. The awarding of the World Cup to Qatar changed football. “I believe that in the future it will be very difficult to award a World Cup without first discussing what that means,” explained Neuendorf. In future tournament awards, one must proceed more critically and attentively with regard to human rights and sustainability.